The biggest shift in the weight-loss drug boom may not be Ozempic anymore

Sales are booming for Novo Nordisk’s new weight loss pill. 

In its first earnings report since the release of an alternative to its hit GLP-1 shot, Novo Nordisk’s outlook is looking a bit brighter. The company, which now makes Wegovy in pill form, raised its guidance for the year in light of the first quarter’s success. 

Novo reported 1.3 million prescriptions for its weight loss pill, which is now available in the U.S., in the first quarter of 2026. The drugmaker plans to launch the pill outside of the U.S. in the second half of the year, expanding the new medication’s reach considerably. 

“The strong Wegovy performance, combined with continued growth in International Operations, has led us to raise our 2026 guidance for both adjusted sales and adjusted operating profit,” Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar said in the report. Doustdar added that the company secured FDA approval for a high dose version of Wegovy, formulated for more dramatic weight loss, in March.

Novo beat its own expectations in the first quarter of the year, reporting a 32% pop in sales on a constant currency basis and a 65% boost in operating profit. The adjusted numbers are more modest, with a 4% decrease in sales and a 6% dip in operating profit, but that still beat the company’s projections. 

In light of its quarter, Novo is forecasting adjusted sales and profit declines of 4 to 12% for the year, an improvement to the previous projection of 5 to 13%. The company’s shares perked up by more than 5% on its latest numbers. 

The company is optimistic that its pill GLP-1 offering will widen the appeal of its weight loss drugs rather than converting existing users of the injectable version. “It’s having not cannibalizations, but a synergetic effect,” CEO Mike Doustdar told CNBC.

Pill Pressure

Novo’s stock slumped dramatically over the course of the last year, with the Danish drugmaker struggling to recapture the highs it enjoyed in 2024, as GLP-1 medications began to take off. Meanwhile, American rival Eli Lilly’s shares have climbed steadily. Now, the company’s April release of its own weight loss pill, Foundayo, threatens Novo’s plans for a comeback.

The Danish drugmaker was first to market with its weight-loss drug Wegovy and that drug’s Type 2 diabetes counterpart Ozempic, but Novo became a victim of its own success. Overwhelming demand led to production struggles, leading to the rise of compounding pharmacies and giving Novo’s direct competitor space to make up lost ground. That dynamic allowed Eli Lilly to explode into the market with its own weight-management drug, Zepbound, and pushed the American drugmaker’s stock to enviable highs. 

To right the ship, Novo Nordisk parted ways with its longtime CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen,  last year. Jørgensen, who steered the company into an unprecedented boom time for weight-loss drugs, was replaced with Novo Executive Vice President of International Operations Mike Doustdar in August.

Novo has its work cut out for it, even as the first company to introduce Americans to a GLP-1 weight loss pill. With its early mover advantage quickly dissolving and aggressive price cuts digging into its bottom line, the Danish drugmaker will need to prove that it can keep up in the market it created. “The numbers with the pill speak for themselves,” Doustdar told CNBC.

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